Journey to Kilimanjaro
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A beautiful morning in the rainforest
Awesome old tree
Beautiful Lemosho Trail
Rain, sleet and thunder!
I loved how all the guides had umbrellas with them! James had a HUGE umbrella, while Kajeli had the most colourful
Day 2 - Saturday 19th February
Mti Mkubwa to Shira 1
Mti Mkubwa Camp - 2650m Shira 1 Camp - 3,610 m
7 km hike - approximately 4 hours
Written by Tina Sibley in March 2022
Could I Continue?
When I woke up this morning, it was strange to find James in my tent sleeping next to me and I remembered the events of the night before! Those minutes before he woke up, I was scared that he was going to say I wouldn't be able to continue and tried to work out how I was feeling. I was certainly very fragile after being so poorly, however, I had recovered somewhat and felt so much better.
When James woke up, he measured my oxygen again, and checked me over - my oxygen levels were good and we were only at 2,650m so we didn't think it was the altitude that was affecting me. Maybe a touch of vertigo or something? Thankfully, James decided that I should continue, while being monitored at all times by himself or one of the other guides.
In my morning video, I reported that I couldn't sleep, but I must have got more sleep than I thought, as James later told me that he had monitored my oxygen saturations, heart rate and temperature every hour or so - but I don't recall any of that! So I must have been a little more out of it than I realised.
Video Overview of the day
A very Up and Down Day!
I went for breakfast and managed to eat a little millet porridge, a pancake and half a piece of toast. Not much but enough to keep me going.
I was so worried that I would have to pull out and the thought of having to pull out for something other than altitude sickness was devastating.
As I felt OK and wanted to drink as much water from my camel pack as possible (one of the best ways to avoid the effects of altitude), I carried my backpack despite James wanting to take it off me. We had a bit of a battle over my backpack to start with, as I was determined to carry it myself, while James wanted to take the burden off me! However, he did take my additional water bottle from me, which Adolf ended up carrying.
Adolf led us today, with Kajeli and Iddy bringing up the rear and keeping a watchful eye on me.
After we set off, at just after 8am, I felt OK and as we walked, I came to life again. The weather was kinder this morning and we had some blue sky and sunshine. The trail starting out was also very gentle, which was great considering how I was feeling.
I really enjoyed trekking through the rainforest - I think it is such a beautiful section of the mountain. I took loads of photos and tried to get as much video footage as I could. Not so easy when you're hiking, using poles and not feeling that great!
Beautiful Trail and Kajeli and Iddy looking after us at the back
Lunch
As we trekked, the trail got steeper and steeper and we began to leave the tall trees of the rainforest behind.
We arrived at our lunch spot quite early at 11am (according to the details on one of my videos) after a very steep climb indeed.
By now, I was starting to feel very tired indeed and at lunch I began to slide downhill again. While sitting at our table waiting for lunch to be served, we had tea and biscuits. Although I don't like tea, from this point onwards I only drank either hot water or ginger tea as that's good for the stomach and I found that I really liked it. However, I found that I was really struggling to even eat a biscuit, which is unheard of for me!! And I could barely keep my eyes open.
Unlike me, I wasn't able to participate much in the conversation around the table and I pretty much just sat there, trying my best to rest while also stay awake.
When lunch arrived, I found that I had lost my apetite and really struggled to eat or drink. Fortunately, we had fresh pineapple to start, which I love and it was so juicy and tasty so that helped me to eat. Then we had french toast and banana stew. The food was so good and so tasty that, although I was struggling with no apetite, the quality of the food really helped me to eat.
The Afternoon Hike
We set off again after lunch and this time, having seen how I was at lunch, James absolutely insisted on carrying my backpack for me. I had no choice but to give in and let him take it.
Once I had been going about ten minutes, though I seemed to come to life again and felt like a bit of a fraud!
It was as though, while hiking, I had a job to do and got on with it, but when resting, my body caved in.
After about 15 or 20 minutes, the rain, sleet and thunder came again, so we had to get into our wet weather gear.
At this point, as my waterproofs were on me, so there was only water in my backpack, I managed to convince James to let me carry it again. My argument was that it would help me drink more water, so he reluctantly agreed as long as I promised to give it back if I was struggling.
I enjoyed the scenery on the way to Shira Camp, as it changed from rainforest to moorland and heather and the plants and shrubs were beautiful and the views were absolutely spectacular.
Shira camp is in the middle of the Shira plateau, which is the oldest volcano on Kilimanjaro. Kili is made up of 3 volcanoes. Shira is the oldest and the crater has filled in to become a large plateau. Then Mawenzi in the East is the second oldest, and second largest, and out of our view for now. Kibo is the youngest and is the towering ridge of the mountain which dominates and provides the highest point of Uhuru peak.
As the afternoon progressed, I found it more and more difficult as my energy began to run out. I managed to drink lots of water though as I was determined not to suffer from bad altitude sickness on top of whatever made me ill the previous night.
The last hour for me was a killer and when I finally got to camp, I was exhausted. Mustafa met me and took my backpack and poles and led me to my tent, where my duffle bag and sleeping bag were already waiting for me. Bless him, Mustafa got me sat down and then helped me off with my boots and gaiters and helped me out of my wet weather gear. This was so lovely and very welcome!
It was great to have the opportunity to rest in my tent for a while before joining the others for the rest of the afternoon/evening.
Evening at Camp
After my rest in my tent and after freshening up, I really revived and felt a lot more like myself. I took some time to enjoy the view and take pictures and video and then we went to the mess tent for tea, popcorn and to go through our health check.
My oxygen levels were lower today, at 87 and my heart rate and temperature were good. Despite struggling I had managed to drink about 3.5 litres of water and wasn't showing any signs of altitude sickness.
However, at dinner, I started to flag again and felt quite wrecked by the time I went to bed. I was thinking that the day had been really hard - it was certainly very up and down in the way I was feeling and my energy levels but little did I know that this would actually be one of the easier days!
I was back in my tent to settle down and sleep by around 8.30pm - hoping for a better night and a better day the following day.
My Overview of the Day
